Console. Charity, Irish-style

Maireadio

222233 wrote: »

I volunteered with a charity similar to the one you describe, not taking in a lot of money and small. From where I stood it seemed legit, turns out it wasn't - I concluded from that experience years ago that the only people who know what goes on with a charities money are the people with access to it...

Well, from what I can see of the one I volunteered, there'd be little money left over to misappropiate. The animals were very well cared for too.

Mary63

The cars have been re possessed,it wouldnt look good for the kellys to be ringing Joe Duffy to say they have to sleep in their expensive cars.

Hope all "their" property is taken by CAB now.

gordongekko

Help!!!! wrote: »

He also dressed as a pilot & walked around Dublin trying to pick up women

Haven't we all

Spanish Eyes

Puzzling isn't it, that the conman and his wife and son were given a WEEK to pack up and go before the injunctions were sought.

Now I wonder why that was.

Had he friends in high places.

Water John

Follow

Elaine Byrne
‏@ElaineByrne
Visited kids in Christina Noble foundation in Mongolia today. Makes you so fu*king angry to see impact of charity scandals on donations.

Elaine Byrne is monitoring election in Mongolia. That is real damage.

abberr

I stopped donating money to charities since Rehab scandal and this is just another.

I think people who collect money for charities are fools, and people donating money are even bigger fools. Yes there is lots of good done by charities, but I think whenever there is a loophole to steal and mislead, there will always be at least one to do so, so until there is significant reform in governance of charities, I will spend my money on pints of beer instead (better spent money)

gctest50

The rodent didn't get very far :

It has now been established that Mr Kelly was picked up by gardai in south Dublin on Thursday evening.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/disgraced-console-ceo-paul-kelly-picked-up-by-gardai-for-his-own-personal-safety-34853186.html

Samaris

Good, I'm glad he's been caught. And I hope they throw the book at him, not just for his dishonesty and theft (and damage to suicide services in Ireland), but for the bad rap he's now given charities in general until people start to forget this lowlife. And for the serious knock he's given to the unfortunate hard-working people in Console who have had their names and work tarnished through no fault of their own.

Sorry about that, gctest, I was trying to quote and I hit the edit button! Not used to that button being there yet *embarrassed look*

pablo128

It appears he was picked up in Dun Laoghaire and arrested for 'his own safety'. Maybe he was contemplating something he was tasked with preventing.

Simon2015

This Paul Kelly character seemed to have been a professional con man his whole life.

When he was not running charities he was also pretending to be a Doctor, a Priest, and an Airline Pilot.

Its amazing this guy was able to get away with what he did for so long.

Simon2015

maryishere wrote: »

Precisely. I know only two peope who work for charities. One earns well over €100,000 per year from the charity. The other works in a small charity but has a really good lifestyle, lots of designer clothes, holidays etc. There are far too many charities in Ireland and it is impossible to regulate them all.

They should put a maximum wage limit of 50k a year on charity CEO's if they can't live off 50k then they shouldn't be working in the charity sector.

stateofflux

In My opinion the Government is at fault for the mess. A lot of charities are doing work a government body should be doing. So the government just let them at it and prop them up with additional funding.

The amount of charities in this countries (most of which serve absolutely no purpose) is ridiculous.

the good generous nature of Irish people is a vast money pit ripe for the plunder. Enough is enough.

brooke 2

Simon2015 wrote: »

They should put a maximum wage limit of 50k a year on charity CEO's if they can't live off 50k then they shouldn't be working in the charity sector.

I agree. Am so tired of hearing about the charity 'industry'. Most of the money raised for a cause should go to that cause, not the minimum amount, as seems to be the case in a lot of these charities/foundations. Let's hope the HSE reveals the details of the other suspect charities, and puts a halt to their gallop!

lawlolawl

stateofflux wrote: »

In My opinion the Government is at fault for the mess. A lot of charities are doing work a government body should be doing. So the government just let them at it and prop them up with additional funding.

The amount of charities in this countries (most of which serve absolutely no purpose) is ridiculous.

the good generous nature of Irish people is a vast money pit ripe for the plunder. Enough is enough.

Nah, even if these services were adequately funded the chancers would find something else to set up charities/organisations for.

There is a class of people in this country who are heads of organisations, serial board members etc. who don't have any real job but just end up in positions of trust due to networking and pure neck. We'll never get around that.

Birdsong

Maireadio wrote: »

I've always thought there is way too much overlapping of charities when there should just be a handful for each issue/illness/whatever.

So many people set up a charity after a loved one dies of a disease or after experiencing a tragedy, as a way of honouring that person. Do they ever stop and consider whether there is a need for the charity they wish to found?

Agree with you on this, I often think it a selfish thing to do, would they not be better off giving a sum of money towards an organisation that works in the field. For example the Hospice Foundation .

brooke 2

lawlolawl wrote: »

Nah, even if these services were adequately funded the chancers would find something else to set up charities/organisations for.

There is a class of people in this country who are heads of organisations, serial board members etc. who don't have any real job but just end up in positions of trust due to networking and pure neck. We'll never get around that.

If there were adequate oversight, they would not be able to get away with plundering these charities. It seems many governments were
more than happy to throw money at the various organisations who seemed to be carrying out the work which they should have been doing.

lawlolawl

brooke 2 wrote: »

If there were adequate oversight, they would not be able to get away with plundering these charities. It seems many governments were
more than happy to throw money at the various organisations who seemed to be carrying out the work which they should have been doing.

Look at what happened with FAS.

Being a government agency or having government oversight doesn't stop dodgy chancers from being dodgy chancers.

Samaris

I guess part of it is that one would -really- not expect someone to stoop so low as to profit from his sister's suicide like this.

I mean...wow, there's being scummy and there's being primordial ooze levels of scummy.

selastich2

picked up "for his own protection", I can see where this is going. In other new 2million in secret top up payment to SJOG


http /www .independent.ie/irish-news/hse-to-investigate-2m-in-secret-payments-to-st-john-of-gods-senior-managers-34853663.html

Xyzforsure

Simon2015 wrote: »

They should put a maximum wage limit of 50k a year on charity CEO's if they can't live off 50k then they shouldn't be working in the charity sector.

No chance of recruiting a CEO for that money

Mary63

Kelly is in hospital now,he was picked up by the Gardai in Dunlaoghaire for his own safety.

He is probably in John of Gods in Stillorgan now,thats where Graham Dwyer went when his victims bag was found in the reservoir.

He can apply for a job now in SJOGs.

The people examining Consoles books are now looking at five properties in total and thats just in Ireland,I presume the Console offices are all located in these properties and they are all owned by the Kellys,probably all rented to Console,one is an eight bedroomed house in Galway.I wonder who owns the nice office in Westminister.

pablo128

Xyzforsure wrote: »

No chance of recruiting a CEO for that money

Plenty of people out there would take a 1k a week job, no matter what it was.

maudgonner

Xyzforsure wrote: »

No chance of recruiting a CEO for that money

That's a line that has been repeated a lot when discussion of charity salaries comes up. And I see the logic to it - if you want to run a major company the CEO would expect a salary much higher than that.

BUT we have thousands of charities in Ireland, they're not all major corporations. And in the case of Console and many others, they are not recruiting people worth that kind of money, they're clearly giving CEO positions to people who have no qualifications or experience to justify anything remotely like that money. But it was handed to them, or more accurately they handed it to themselves.

So clearly paying huge salaries does not get us the calibre of people that it should. And paying huge salaries may well attract the wrong kind of people. I'd far rather see someone at the head of a charity who is genuinely passionate to be there and makes sacrifices to do so, than someone who is in it for the paycheck.

Mary63

I doubt if any of the CEOS of the bigger Irish charities are working for less than 100,000 euros.

They CEOS would cut services rather than take pay cuts themselves,this is what happened in Barnardos recently and its CEO Fergus Finlay is on over 100,000 euros.

What exactly does Barnardos do does anyone know.Its shops are a bit tatty looking,does this organisation get most of its funding from the HSE too.

We have generous social welfare payments,subsidised public housing,medical cards,back to school allowances,why do we need organisations like Barnardos in this country.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/horse-charity-boss-steps-down-after-complaint-to-regulator-1.2707333

I read this yesterday and thought here we go another one.How come the Charity regulator could get involved here,it was the volunteers who complained about this charity,how come the Console staff and volunteers didn't make complaints to the charity regulator.The manager of I think the Cork console office knew the contract staff weren't being paid,he must have known the phone lines and the rent wasn't being paid either,surely as a manager these problems were something he should have concerned himself with,what was the point of paying someone to manage an office if everything was being left up to "lets call Paul".

Simon2015

Charity CEO's Adi Roche (cheronobyl children) and Maureen Forrest (hope foundation) both work for free.

Thats what I call real charity workers.

Also we have Brid Leahy of ASH Ireland who only takes a 36k salary.

The idea that you have to pay charity CEO's 6 figure salaries to get the "best people" is nonsense. By paying out that kind of money you will only attract charlatans.

http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-charity-ceo-salaries-spending-best-practice-2659408-Mar2016/

Spanish Eyes

Too many Charities, too many CEOs. Too many egos who will not merge with like minded Charities.

Too little regulation, too much money given without adequate scrutiny. HSE blind to it all.

The Paul Kelly person is being replicated everywhere. But who knows, who cares, who regulates?

Must be who you know at this stage.

Mary63

Barnardos has 365 employees,what are all these people doing.

I think most of the staff working in the shops are volunteers,they often have notices in the window looking for volunteers anyway.

What could 365 people be doing in a country that has very high Child Benefit payments,I genuinely don't understand child poverty in this country,if you are very poor do you not get everything for free.

Spanish Eyes

Simon2015 wrote: »

Charity CEO's Adi Roche (cheronobyl children) and Maureen Forrest (hope foundation) both work for free.

Thats what I call real charity workers.

Also we have Brid Leahy of ASH Ireland who only takes a 36k salary.

The idea that you have to pay charity CEO's 6 figure salaries to get the "best people" is nonsense. By paying out that kind of money you will only attract charlatans.

http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-charity-ceo-salaries-spending-best-practice-2659408-Mar2016/

ASH Ireland are fanatics. I am a non smoker and I cannot stand them, sorry, and 36k to tell us all that smoking is bad. Come on! There are so many others telling us smoking is bad, all getting loadsa dough aswell huh.

Kudos to those who do not take a salary. That is very rare indeed.

Charities in this country are not regulated. All they get is Revenue exemption as a charity. Then off they go. Nothing, even if public funds are given.

As we can see with Paul Kelly and family.

Disgraceful. But hey ho. This is Ireland.

pablo128

Mary63 wrote: »

Barnardos has 365 employees,what are all these people doing.

I think most of the staff working in the shops are volunteers,they often have notices in the window looking for volunteers anyway.

What could 365 people be doing in a country that has very high Child Benefit payments,I genuinely don't understand child poverty in this country,if you are very poor do you not get everything for free.

How would you get everything for free?

And child benefit is only paid until the child is 7 yrs old now.

maxwell smart

It's time the whole charity scam was exposed for what it is - jobs for the girls and boys.

The chief fundraiser of a large charity would expect to be on a MINIMUM of €180k a year.

I have attended some of these 'charity fundraisers' and they don't add up. There are prizes galore, sometimes they are in the Intercontinental (was 4 seasons), top quality food and drink on tap. When I do the maths the money paid must only cover a small return once the costs are stripped out. Most of these charities have PR companies on a retainer, that's a minimum of €6k a month for 20 hours work, plus seperate fees for events.

The 'papers' won't expose this as they are the biggest culprits, I lost track of how many 'journalists' (Yes Barry Egan I'm looking at you) go to these things.

This country is a joke. Time to talk to Joe.....